Bryan Tong

Period 3
X Marks the Spot Lab
Objective: Use kinematic calculations and obtained data measurements to calculate the landing spot of a projectile
Procedure:
1. Set up track on table with the catcher end in position to catch the ball.
2. Attach photogate to very end of track in order to measure instantaneous velocity when vertical velocity is zero.
3. Run ball down track 3 times to ensure accuracy.
4. Calculate instantaneous velocity by taking width of photogate (error stated in error analysis) and dividing by time
taken for ball to cross the width of the photogate.
5. Measure distance from track to the floor to find the height the ball needs to fall.
6. Use kinematic equations to calculate time taken for ball to fall and total horizontal distance traveled by ball (use
9.81 m/s2 to ensure accuracy).
7. Position carbon paper where the landing spot is estimated (use meter sticks to measure distance and tape to mark
position).
8. Call teacher over and run final experiment.
Conclusion/Error Analysis
1. The main reason that our estimated landing spot was significantly off from the actual landing spot was our use of
the width of the photogate instead of the diameter of the ball. This decision was made because we thought that the
photogate measured the time it took to cross the width of it, and ignored the fact that different objects with
different diameters would result in different time measurements. Because of this mistake, the instantaneous
velocity of the ball at the end of the track was actually smaller than we measured, which resulted in a greater
displacement. Consequently, we had very significant error in our results (37.99%). If, instead, we had used the
diameter of the ball, our error would have been 4.88%. A possible explanation for why there still may have been
this much error is that we could have rounded to too few significant figures. Another possible explanation is that
we may not have placed the target exactly straight with the edge of the table, which would have resulted in larger
error. However, 9.81 m/s2 was used for gravity instead of 10.0 m/s2 to ensure as much accuracy as possible,
despite the evident flaws. We do not have a measurement for how far or left our ball landed because of the
difficulty there would have been to actually measure it given how far our ball landed from the target.
2. When the ball was in the air, its horizontal velocity did not change because there is presumably no external net
force acting upon it (air resistance is negligible). However, vertical velocity did change due to the gravity of the
Earth, which would cause it to continuously get faster until the moment of impact.
3. See Calculations page
4. If the ball were released from a higher position on the track, we would have to position the target further away
from the table. This is because the ball would have had more time to accelerate and gain speed, so its
instantaneous velocity at the moment of release would be higher. This would ultimately be its horizontal velocity.
The time in the air would be the same because the track would still be at the same height, but because of the
increase in horizontal velocity, the ball would travel a greater distance in that same amount of time.
5. See Calculations page